HARTFORD - The city has sued an outside management company that for years oversaw Hartford's two golf courses, charging that the organization failed to maintain the properties and neglected to make improvements required by its contract. The lawsuit says Matthew Menchetti and his company, MDM Golf Enterprises, LLC, failed to make half of the required upgrades to the courses; did not maintain the premises and ancillary structures; did not pay for all of the utilities mandated by the contract and failed to maintain the necessary financial resources.

HARTFORD - Details of how the city might generate revenue to lease a minor league baseball stadium from a developer will be revealed in the coming days, the city's development director said. Thomas Deller said Tuesday that he would present a plan to Mayor Pedro Segarra and the city council for making millions of dollars in payments to DoNo Hartford LLC, a group formed by developers Centerplan Development Co. and LeylandAlliance. The firms were chosen to lead a $350 million redevelopment project in an area north of downtown - an effort that includes the construction of a 220,000-square-foot baseball stadium.

By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN, kgosselin@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, February 27, 2013

The Hartford is leaving Simsbury. The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. - scaling back to focus on its more profitable businesses - will shutter the 33-acre campus in Simsbury, one of three main locations, over the next two years and relocate 1,500 employees to offices in Hartford and Windsor. The Hartford-based property-casualty insurer will put up for sale its four-story, 610,000-square-foot building off Hopmeadow Street, plus another 140 acres it owns north of the main campus.

HARTFORD — Fire damaged an already fire-damaged house at 197 Bond St. Monday afternoon. Firefighters were called to the house near Maple Avenue at 3:48 p.m. When they arrived, smoke was coming from all floors of the three-story home, fire officials said. Firefighters initially went into the building to battle the flames and search for occupants. No one was found, and firefighters withdrew to continue fighting the fire from outside, fire officials said. The house was vacant and there have been two previous fires there, officials said.

Two letters in Thursday's Courant disturbed me. They were negative on the construction of the baseball stadium in Hartford [June 5, "City Should Put Effort Into Schools, Not Rock Cats"; "Stadium A Mistake"]. Both writers live well outside of the city and offer up some of the same arguments that have been given over the years opposing the construction of the Civic Center, the Convention Center, the Science Center, Front Street, UConn's downtown campus, etc. If these people lived in Hartford, they might have a different point of view on my community.

It's just under hour before the puck is dropped and fans are trickling into the XL Center. Opening night in Hartford for the Whale, hosting the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Whale/Wolf Pack were 6-3-0-1 vs. Bridgeport last season. They are 55-35-3-4-5 overall against the Tigers and 31-14-2-1-2 in Hartford. And by the way, the ice looks great. And there's no linger smell of bull you-know-what here in the building.

Police are on scene after a midday shooting in the area of Mather and Brook streets. The Shooting Task Force was called to assist. Witnesses reported hearing screaming between two groups around 1 p.m. It was immediately unclear how many victims are involved. Check back for more information.

I was dropping off my car at the mechanic's, and watched a young man waddle down the street. A car slowed, and a woman leaned out and hollered, "Son, pull up your pants, you look damn foolish!!" Hartford, pull up your pants. And take out those earbuds while you're at it. It's about respect. It matters what we look like, it matters that we clean up and say "please" and "thank you" to those who support the city. And that means the state, the residents, visitors, conventions and the corporations who still reside here.

Because of Wednesday's high heat, the city has opened cooling centers. The following air-conditioned spaces are open: Parker Memorial Community Center, 2621 North Main St., open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Pope Park Recreation Center, 30 Pope Drive, open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Metzner Center, 680 Franklin Ave., open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. North End Senior Center, 80 Coventry St., open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. South End Senior Wellness Center, 830...

As a Hartford resident, I am thrilled at the prospect of Tangiers moving to the neighborhood [May 14, courant.com, "Tangiers Moving to Central Supermarket Location"]. The move is not just the West End's gain, but is definitely Hartford's too, as it improves Hartford's viability as a place to do business. Shariq Iqbal, Hartford

HARTFORD — A city man who killed his sister's fiance by shooting him in the face in front of the victim's children was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday. Akeem Pottinger pleaded guilty July 14 under the Alford doctrine to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm. In Alford pleas, defendants don't admit guilt, but acknowledge there is enough evidence for a conviction. Pottinger was also sentenced to 10 years of special parole. If there were a trial, the children who witnessed the killing would most likely have testified, prosecutor Thomas Garcia said.

EAST HARTFORD — The Friends of Center Cemetery group is inviting people to a dramatic reading of humorous epitaphs at the cemetery on Sept. 20. Eight members of the nonprofit organization will act out the epitaphs, including a few from Center Cemetery. "We try to keep with the ones that are short and sweet and rhyme-y," said Ruth Brown, vice president of the friends group. The event will also include facts about funeral customs, she said. "These epitaphs are humorous things that we like to have fun with, but at the same time there are educational, fun facts," she said.

HARTFORD - Dozens gathered at Dillon Stadium Monday for a vigil for Jillian Burgos, a city teenager who has been missing for two weeks. Their shared message was simple: We love you, please come home. Burgos, a 14-year-old student at Two Rivers Magnet Middle School in East Hartford, was last seen Monday, Aug. 25, when her father asked her about 2 p.m. that day to go outside. Fighting back tears, Jillian's mother, Jeanette Oquendo, joined by other family members, asked those at the vigil to continue to look for her daughter and share any information.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, accused by critics on the right and the left of promoting an economic development strategy that relies on tax breaks and other "corporate welfare" programs to large corporations, unveiled several new initiatives Monday aimed at boosting small businesses in urban communities. Standing on the steps of Faith Congregational Church in Hartford, Malloy, a Democratic running for his second term, touted his administration's achievements, including overseeing what he says is the fastest rate of job-creation in Connecticut since the 1990s.

HARTFORD — The city would pay $3.77 million annually for the first five years it leases a minor league baseball stadium that is part of a sweeping redevelopment plan, according to projections in city documents and the developer's plan. For the first five years of a 25-year lease, Hartford would pay a developer 8 percent of the aggregate cost of building the baseball stadium, records show. The city would then sublease the ballpark to the New Britain Rock Cats, who would begin playing there in 2016.

The night before Labor Day, my daughter and I were in a car accident at the corner of Collins Street and Sigourney Street in Hartford. Nearby residents came out to offer assistance. Two men in particular, one younger and one older, stayed with us for the 40 minutes or more we waited for an officer to arrive. They chatted, told stories, made us laugh and were guardian angels for two suburban women out of their element. I was too upset to think of asking their names but I want to thank them for their concern.

Something is wrong in Hartford. Many if not most streets have only had a path cleared so emergency vehicles going one way can get through. I talked to a representative of the Public Works Department who said the order to plow only small paths came from Mayor Pedro Segarra. What if there were two emergencies on the same street? Which would have the right of way; a burning house or a car accident? I was also told plows cannot push snow nearer to the curb because it is too deep. But other towns plowed their snow to the curbs.

HARTFORD — Brandon Henry, who with his friend Jashon Bryant, was shot by a Hartford police officer in 2005 and later testified at the officer's trial on assault and manslaughter charges, was arrested late Friday by Hartford detectives and East Hartford police. Henry, 31, of East Hartford, faces charges of first-degree assault, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit, police said. The charges relate to a shooting about 11:30 p.m. March 26 at 30 Hughes St., police said.

EAST HARTFORD – Police are investigating a stabbing incident that occurred in an alley between a Quick Stop Mini Mart and an apartment complex on Main Street Sunday evening. Police said one man was sent to St. Francis Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Police said they believe to have one suspect connected to the stabbing. Police did not identify the victim or the suspect involved in the stabbing incident. Check back for details.